AP Government Congressional Flow Chart

Seniority System

The seniority system was a simple rule for picking committee chairs, in effect until the 1970s. The member who had served on the committee the longest and whose party controlled the chamber became chair, regardless of party loyalty, mental state, or competence.

Executive Bureaucracy

The executive bureaucracy administers the policies that Congress passes. The bureaucracy is monitored by congressional committees in a process called legislative oversight.

House Committee Chairs

Senate Majority/Minority Whip

The Senate majority and minority whips are some of the main party leaders in the Senate. The whips help the Senate party leaders to gather votes, schedule debate on bills, and influence committee assignments. They help make sure that the term of the majority or minority goes smoothly. The responsibilities and duties of the Senate whips are similar to those of the House whips.

Committee chairs are the head of committees. With such a position, the committee chair is mainly responsible for setting the committee’s agenda by determining when or whether a certain bill will be considered on the House floor. The committee chair can call the committee together in order to carry out their duties. The committee chair must prepare a report of the committee and its corresponding progress and is obligated to give this report to the House of Representatives.

Committees

Standing Committees

Conference Committee

Standing committees are one of the main and most important congressional committees early in the policy making process, considering and shaping the majority of the proposed laws. Standing committees are separate subject-matter committees in each house of Congress that handle bills in different policy areas. Subcommittees are smaller units of a committee created out of the committee membership. When a bill is introduced to Congress, it is a assigned to a committee which then refers it to a subcommittee. After the committee approves of the bill, the Rules Committee in the House or the party leaders in the Senate schedule a time for the full House or Senate to debate the bill. This process highlights the standing committees’ impact on controlling the congressional agenda and guiding legislation.

Conference committees are one of the main types of congressional committees that guide legislation. They are formed when the House and the Senate need to reconcile different versions of the same bill. A conference committee is made up of members from the House and Senate committees that originally considered the bill. Once the committee agrees on a compromise, the revised bill is returned to both houses of Congress for their approval. Therefore, conference committees are crucial in the lawmaking process as a bill cannot make any further process in becoming a law without a conference committee helping the Senate and the House reach a consensus on the bill to be reviewed by the president.

Senate Majority/Minority Leader

The image depicts the Senate Armed Service Committee in session discussing defense programs.

The image depicts a conference committee charged with negotiating an extension of the payroll tax holiday.

The Senate Majority Leader is the leader of the majority party in a legislative body, especially the party member who directs the activities of the majority party on the floor of the Senate. The Senate Minority Leader is the party member that directs the activities of the minority party on the floor of a legislative body, as of the Senate.

Select Committees

Joint Committees

House Majority/Minority Leader

House Majority/Minority Whip

Joint Committees are committees that focus on a few subject-matter areas including the economy and taxation. The committee consists of individuals from both the Senate and the House of Representatives. This kind of committee focuses on narrow jurisdictions and areas and usually are not given the power to report legislation.

A committee, as a legislative body, that is formed to examine and report on a specific bill/ issue.

Senate Committee Chairs

Senator

Each state elects two senators that serve six year terms in the Senate. Senators along with Representatives work towards the common goal of creating public policies and bills that correspond with their respective ideologies.

The House Majority leader is the leader of the majority party in a legislative body, especially the party member who directs the activities of the majority party on the floor of the House of Representatives. The House Minority Leader is the party member that directs the activities of the minority party on the floor of a legislative body, as of the House of Representatives.

The House majority and minority whips are some of the main party leaders in the House of Representatives. The House whips work with the majority leader or minority leader to count votes beforehand and lean on waverers whose votes are crucial to a bill favored by the party. In addition, party whips report the views and complaints of the party members to the leadership, acting as a bridge of communication between the leadership and the rest of the party members. In the absence of a party floor leader, whips can serve as the acting floor leader.

Staff Agencies

Barbara Boxer is one of California's current Democratic senators.

GAO is the Government Accountability Office, which provides auditing, evaluation, and investigative services for the U.S. Congress. CBO, the Congressional Budget Office, undertakes special budget-related studies at the request of congress and is responsible for economic forecasting and fiscal policy analysis, scorekeeping, cost projections, and an Annual Report on the Federal Budget. CRS, the Congressional Research Service, is a branch of the Library of Congress that provides objective, nonpartisan.

Committee chairs are the head of committees. With such a position, the committee chair is mainly responsible for setting the committee’s agenda by determining when or whether a certain bill will be considered on the Senate floor. The committee chair can call the committee together in order to carry out their duties. The committee chair must prepare a report of the committee and its corresponding progress and is obligated to give this report to the Senate.

The House whips work with the House leaders, acting as an intermediary between the them and the other members.

Along with representatives, Senators vote on public policies and bills to be past. In order for a bill to have a chance at becoming a law, both chambers must vote for its passing.

Personal Staff

Lobbyists

The personal staff of individual members of Congress have a variety of responsibilities. Such responsibilities include working on casework, answering mail, and meeting with lobbyists. Members of Congress often use staff intermediaries to communicate with each other.

Lobbyists are individuals, usually affiliated with interest groups, corporations or are former politicians, that pursue individuals in Congress and try to sway their vote to align with the interest's agenda. They provide legislators with crucial information, and often can give assurances of financial aid in the next campaign. When dealing with certain situations and scenarios focusing on certain interest group’s interest, lobbyists can try to get involved to help convince certain people in Congress to think and vote to help benefit the interest group. Those in Congress may be influenced by lobbyists tempting offers and can vote in favor of their interests, and can lead to the Congress members to adopt a different focus due to the money. Such temptations can lead to the our politicians to be corrupt. Regulation of Lobbyists started with The Federal Regulation of Lobbying Act of 1946 and a 1995 law in which they must file disclosure requirements that prevent shady deals and curb the influence of special interests.

Speaker of the House

House Rules Committee

Congressperson

Bill

A draft of a proposed law presented to Congress for discussion. The bill must go through an extensive process in Congress in order to become a law.

The House Rules Committee is in charge of reviewing any and all bills from House Committees. Upon review, the House Rules Committee can decide the order in which to consider each bill and floor resolutions in the House of Representatives. The committee establishes a rule for each bill’s individual consideration. A rule pencils in time for a law’s consideration, the duration of the debate, and any and all amendments that will be offered.

A congressperson most commonly refers to an individual serving in The House of Representatives. Along with the Senators, Representatives dedicate their time and efforts to voting on passing public policies that align with their party's stance, their personal ideologies, or for the greater good of the nation as a whole.

The Speaker of House is given the opportunity to choose the order of which Representatives will speak during meetings and debates. With the approval of the House Rules Committee, the Speaker of the House may decide to either have a closed or open rule for the debate, thus allowing him or her to decide how long a bill discussion will take. The Speaker of the House is the second line for presidency, right after the Vice President and is deemed with the responsibility to preside over the house, assist in appointing party leaders, and control committee assignments by deciding which bills will be reviewed by which committees.

Similar to Senators, Representatives vote on whether certain public policies and or bills should be past. In order for a bill to have a chance at becoming a law, both chambers must vote for its passing.

AP Government Congressional Flow Chart

David Smith, Shogo Nishimura, Alex Manley